With her eyes fixed on Tokyo 2020 but without losing sight of her academic career, Mireia Belmonte (Badalona, 1990) has as her next and unavoidable goal the qualification for the Olympic Games, in which she will try to extend her record of four medals (one gold, two silver and one bronze). Mireia is one of the main exponents of the training project of UCAM and the Spanish Olympic Committee so that elite athletes can combine their studies with their training and competitions. Within the frame of that personalised and programmed training, today, Wednesday, it was time for her to take exams of the Bachelor’s Degree in Advertising and Public Relations, which is the degree she studies at UCAM. 

The work of an Olympic champion is meticulously measured, therefore Mireia knew that today she had to make the most of her day at the campus: “It has been an intense day. Today’s exam was quite long and I had planned it for long time ago, because this year there are many things to be coordinated and the study is one of them”. In addition to the exam, Mireia took the opportunity to meet with José Luis Mendoza, president of UCAM, and to train at the UCAM Sports Center.  

With Tokyo in sight, the Catalan swimmer is at a key moment of her preparation, since she now has to bear the most demanding training sessions: “This year is being very tough. We train a lot and we spend many days away from home, but I am happy because I have a very clear objective. In December, in Amsterdam, I have the first opportunity to meet the Olympic minimum standards, but the main competition will be the Spanish Championship in April and that will be the key moment to qualify. Reaching the minimum now does not guarantee going to the Olympics”. 

Mireia’s plans have not changed with respect to the previous Olympic cycle and she will try to qualify in the same six races in which she competed in 2016: 200 butterfly, 400 freestyle, 800 freestyle, 200 medley, 400 medley and one medley relay (in 2016 it was the 4x200 freestyle). With such a wide programme she would have the opportunity to surpass David Cal, who also studies at UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia, and who remains as the top Spanish Olympic medallist with five medals. Mireia is one medal away from him: “It is complicated because an Olympic medal entails so much sacrifice and it is very difficult to success, but it is certainly a nice challenge”.